West Ham face same team for THREE matches running in bizarre quirk due to little-known rule in Europa League draw

WEST HAM fans might grow bored of their Europa League last 16 opponents pretty quickly.

The Hammers will face off against German side Freiburg in the next round of the competition, with some fans fuming about the draw and even labelling it as “rigged”, in unfounded claims.

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West Ham will face Freiburg in the last 16 of the Europa League[/caption]

Although it won’t be an easy tie for the Hammers, it will certainly be a familiar one.

West Ham faced Freiburg in the group stages, meaning they have come up against them twice already this season.

And with their final group match having been against the Bundesliga outfit, David Moyes‘ side will be playing Freiburg THREE times in a row with the last 16 tie being played over two legs.

Usually teams can’t be drawn against a team from their own group in European competitions, but the Europa League‘s format has changed to mean it can now happen.

Each team that tops their group automatically secures a spot in the last 16 while the second placed teams head into a play-off with the best ranked sides that drop down from the Champions League.

The winner of the play-off books their spot in an open draw to face one of the Europa League group stage winners in the last 16 of the tournament.

So although West Ham are playing Freiburg three times in a row in the tournament, it will not be the same for the Germans who had to beat French club Lens over two legs to secure their spot in the next round.

West Ham and Feiburg aren’t the only two teams who will face off against a team they already played in the group stages either.

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Sporting Lisbon and Atalanta were both in Group D together and will now go head to head again in the next round.

While Bayer Leverkusen and Qarabag will also meet again after playing twice in Group H earlier in the season.

West Ham may take confidence in facing Freiburg again after they got the better of them on both occasions in the group stage.

Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd netted in a 2-1 victory at the Europa-Park Stadium when the teams met on matchday two.

While Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez both scored in a comfortable 2-0 win at the London Stadium in December.

AP

The Hammers have already beaten Freiburg twice this season[/caption]